There are a variety of footwear products in the market. Some footwear products are tailored to provide a better cushion for absorbing shocks generated during walking movement of a user. In recent years, there have been proposed different types of footwear articles seeking to promote ventilation in the shoe upper.
One way to effect ventilation is to provide a bladder-type pump device in a cavity located in the sole of a shoe such that on compression of the pump device air ventilation can be generated. However, among other problems, operating such pump device efficiently has been shown to be rather difficult. Further, the size and thickness of the sole in a shoe is often limited such that the size of the pump device situated in the sole is also limited, thus hindering the magnitude of ventilation that can be generated to the shoe.
The present invention seeks to provide an improved article of footwear that can effect ventilation within the shoe upper thereof more efficiently, or at least to provide an alternative to the public.